Sludge pump



March 12, 1946. s. SCHWARZ SLUDGE PUMP Filed March 1, 1945 J INVENTOR.

' Patented Mar. 12, 1946 SLUDGE PUMP Sigmund Schwarz, St. Albans, N. Y. Application March 1, 1945, Serial No. 580,297

Claims. (01. 103-267) The invention relates to apparatus for quickly and economically removing from storage tanks the accumulation of viscous tar or semi-fluid tar, oil sludges and the like. i

The principal object of the invention, generally considered, is to provide a steam jet pump or ejector which can be readily inserted in the storage tank without a partial dismantling of the same, said pump being so designed, arranged and connected as to convert the residue collected in the tank bottom, irrespective of its condition, into a fluid mixture which is conveyed to a point of disposal by conveying means attached to the said pump or ejector.

Another object of the invention is to provide a steam pump or ejector which may be readily inserted into the clean-out opening of a tank, said pump havingmeans for collecting residue and converting the same into fluid, and further meansfor forcing said fluid under pressure through a conduit to its point of disposal.

Another object of the invention is. to provide means for removing tank sludge from storage tanks and the like so that the-sludge is converted into a fluid of such viscosity and composition that the same may be utilized as a fuel for boilers or the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a steam jet pump having a plurality of interiorly arranged nozzles so positioned and disposed as to receive and discharge the tank sludge or residue at a much faster rate than heretofore deemed possible and with sufficient pressure to overcome variations in discharge levels as great as twenty feet.

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter.

form of scale, water and other undesirable material. These undesirable materials tend to settle von the bottom of the tank from each filling of the tank and thus accumulate over a period of days and months, until finally this accumulation so reduces the capacity of the tank and interferes with the flow of oil from the discharge orifices that'it is necessary to cut off the tank and to clean this accumulation from the bottom thereof.

In addition to the materials noted in the preceding paragraph there is always a tendency in asphaltic base oils to deposit along with the other impurities the asphaltic tars which, being of greater specific gravitythan the oil, settle to the bottom of the tank, and these asphaltic derivatives and tar mix with the sand and other impurities to form in the bottom of the tank a layer of greater or less depth which, depending upon the character of oil may be viscous, semi-fluid or semi-hard, as the case may be.

It has been the common practice in the cleaning of these storage tanks to remove one or more of the sectional parts of the wall and to place men within the tank with shovels, scoops and in some cases with pick axes and the like to remove these accumulations by whelbarrows or buckets.

Steam jet nozzles have been used and often with great success in removing this accumulation and the steam jet nozzles have been so constructed as to be handled by one or two men and to be readily insertible within the tank through the ordinary clean-out opening. Where the tank sludge is fluid or semi-fluid the ordinary steam jet nozzle will operate quite successfully and atfords a much more inexpensive method of clean ing tanks than does the pick and shovel method 1 described above.

4 or by reason of the particular characteristics of Before describing the invention in detail it is believed that it will lead'to a better understanding of the device. to briefly point out a few of the problems which arise in connection with the cleaning of oil storage tanks in refineries, ships and the like.

The oil storage tanks of refineries are adapted to receive the crude oil directly from the well and there is alwa s mixed with such oil sand. rust, a

the oil stored therein, is extremely heavy by rea- 'son of the carbonization of the deposits that the ordinary steam jetnozzle is incapable of efiecting the removal of this heavy carbonized sludge. It is therefore the principal object of my invention to provide a steam jet nozzle so arranged and constructed that this heavy carbonized sludge can be adequately'and quickly handled and the fluid which results from the passage of this material through m improved pump is sufllciently fluid to be utilized as a fuel rather than becoming, as in the past, a waste product which is exceedingly diflicult to dispose of and extremely costly in handling- Having worked for a long period with steam jet pumps which are now on the market, I have determined the specific faults that these pumps possess and have devised the improved form which, in actual tests, has shown a very high degree of efficiency and a capacity far in excess of any of those steam jet pumps which are now on the market.

The steam jet pump in its entirety is indicated by the reference character I and comprises an intake nozzle 2 which is'adapted to be screwthreadedly received into the outer end of the center throat piece 3, the throat piece 3 being in turn threadedly received within one end. of the discharge nozzle piece 4 to which is attached a discharge Line or conduit 5. Interposed between the throat piece 3 and the intake nozzle 2 and the discharge nozzle 4 are spacer rings t and 1, the thickness of which, as will be readily apparent, controls the size of the annular steam jet openings 8 and 9, respectively. The throat piece 3 is preferably formed with an intermediate circular passage 10 which, at opposite ends, merges into the tapered ends H and I2, respectively.

The nozzle 2 has an inwardly tapering portion which projects into the tapered portions II of the throat piece 3, as clearly shown in the drawing and therefore the thinner the spacer ring 1 is made the smaller is the opening 9 between the throat piece and the steam chamber 9a formed at the outer end of the portion 3. It will be obvious, therefore, that, since the taper of the outer surface of the nozzle 2 is slightly greater than the taper of the portion H of the throat piece 3, by increasing or decreasing the thickness of the ring I the circular orifice connecting the steam chamber 9a with the central opening in can be varied as desired, that is the thinner the ring I is made the smaller will be the orifice and conversely the thicker the ring I is made the greater will be the area of the orifice 9.

The configuration of the part 4 is such that the thinner the ring 6 is made the greater will be the area of the discharge opening 8 due to the slight taper 13 on the interior of the nozzle 4 and the conformation of the outer portion of the tapered portion l2 of the throat 3.

By the means which I have described a very ac-v curate determination of the area of the two steam jets from th respective steam chambers Ba and 9a can be determined by the thickness of the respective rings 6 and l and since these rings are on the exterior of the pump they are open to inspection and by previous calibration it can be determined from this inspection the respective areas of the discharge openings from the respective steam chambers.

The intake nozzle piece 2 is provided with an internally threaded end for receiving the intake nipple l4. Separate valved steam inlets l5 and I6 are provided, the valve members being graphically illustrated by the cross lines between the steam pipes and the respective openings into the portions 3 and 4 of the pump.

Opposite the inlet for the steam jet i6 1 pro! vide an opening l1 closed by a plug l8. By this arrangement, no matter what the relative position of th part 4 bears to the part 3, it will be obvious that the steam inlets into the respective chambers 8a and 9a are never more than a quarter of a turn apart and in ready position for the attachment to a steam line without the necessity of providin a high degree of flexibility in the steam hoses I 5 and 16.

It will be noted that I preferably form the relatively slender cylindrical portion of the throat piece with reinforcing ribs l9 clearly shown in Figure 2, said ribs merging at opposite ends into the thickened portions of the throat piece and thus form the throat piece of sufficient strength to withstand the high pressures which are generated within the throat piece by the passage of the sludge therethrough. I

It will be further noted that the tapered portion l3 of the discharge portion 4 increases in diameter to a point adjacent its connection with the conduit 5 and I find that this increase in diameter of the discharge nozzle greatly facilitates the passage of the fluid sludge and prevents the building up of back pressures and the tendency of the steam as in prior nozzles to flash back out through the nipple l4.

The action of the pump is as follows:

The two steam jet openings havin been properly adjusted by means of the rings 6 and l to provide clearance of approximately 3% of an inch between each nozzle and the adjacent portion of the pump, the steam valves ar opened and high pressure steam will enter the steam chambers 8a .and 9a and discharge through the respective openings 8 and 9. With the steam at approximately one hundred pounds pressure per square inch the velocity of the steam will be, through the jet openings, approximately three thousand feet per second. This, of course, will create a terrific suction through the nipple I4 andwill at the same time provide sufiicient heat to reduce the sludge to a readily fiowable fluid.

It will be noted that in the device described the interaction between the two steam jets automatically takes place, the intake nozzle acting as a suction nozzle which discharges the material taken u in through the nipple into the relatively narrow throat passage, while the discharge jet through the orifice 8 breaks up the material into fragments and provides a powerful steam stream through the conduit 5 which is thus able to carry a fluid or semi-fluid material despite any variation in elevation between the steam pump and the major portion of the conduit which would be the case should the steam jet pump be used for instance in cleaning the storage tank of a vessel and consequently the conduit would have to be formed as a gooseneck in order that the discharge from the storage tank could be lifted above the elevation of the tank and through the open-.

ing through which the conduit would extend.

As I have previously pointed out, when the device is in operation, and assuming that the material to be removed is relatively hard, it will be obvious from the restricted portion of the throat [0 that this hardened material will be compressed and at the same time subjected to a terrific heat caused by the high pressure steam from the opening 9 so that actually the lumpy material picked up by the nipple I4 is converted into a fiuid by the time it passes through the throat into the enlarged chamber of the part 4, at which time it will be again subjected to the'powerful influence of the second steam jet issuingjrom the nozzle 8.

I claim:

1. A jet pump comprising a throat body having an outwardly flared portion adjacent one end thereof, an intake nozzle extending into said body at one end thereof, a central opening in said intake nozzle, means directing a column of fluid out of said intake nozzle for drawing material through said central opening into said throat body, a discharge nozzle at the flared end of said throat body. means directing a column of fluid over and secured to said flared end to form aout of said discharge nozzle for drawing material out of said throat body, and means associated with said throat body for adjusting each of said nozzles.

2. A jet pump comprising a throat body having an outwardly flared portion adjacent one end thereof, a hollow conical member extending into and threadedly associated with said throat body adjacent one end thereof to form an intake nozzle means communicating with the interior of said throat body adjacent said member for causing a column of fluid to pass through said intake nozzle for drawing material into said throat body, another member sleeved over and threadably associated with the opposite end of said throat body to form therewith a discharge nozzle, means communicating with said second member for causing a column of fluid to pass through said discharge nozzle and drawing material out of said throat body, and exterior adjusting means interposed between both of said members and throat body for controlling the openings of both of said nozzles.

3. A jet pump comprising a tubular throat body having a large end, restricted intermediate portion and flared end, a tubular member extending into said large end to form an intake nozzle, adjusting means interposed between said large end and tubular member for determining the opening of said intake nozzle, 9. second member sleeved discharge nozzle, and adjusting means interposed between said second member and tubular throat body for determining the opening of said discharge nozzle.

4. A jet pump comprising a tubular throat body having oppositely flared ends, hollow conically shaped means removably secured to and extending into one end of said tubular throat body to form an intake nozzle, means surrounding and removabl secured to the opposite end of said tubular throat body to form a discharge nozzle, and adjusting means interposed between exterior portions of both of said means and said tubular throat body for determining the openings of said intake and discharge nozzles.

5. A jet pump comprising a throat portion having a central opening therein, said opening terminating in oppositely directed outwardly flared portions, the intermediate portion of said opening being circular in cross section, a nozzle portion entering one of said flared portions and threadably connected to the throat portion, 'a second nozzle sleeved over the opposite end of said throat portion, said last named nozzle having an inward- -ly tapering interior wall, said nozzles and the adjacent portion of the throat forming a plurality of spaced jet openings, and means for adjustably regulating the size of said jet openings.

SIGMUND SCHWARZ. 

